During the fall 2017 semester, ten Temple University graduate students will endeavor to preserve what remains of the LESLEY, a 23-foot racing sneakbox built during the 1930s by the Perrine Boatyard of New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay.  Our task is to use both analog and digital methods to create a permanent record of LESLEY’s form and construction.  Along the way, we will will consider the histories of other objects associated with our region’s maritime past toward understanding how and why LESLEY’s design veered so dramatically from its humble origins.

This project is the latest in a serious of material culture initiatives sponsored by the Center for Public History that are intended to demonstrate the extent to which graduate training in the humanities is enriched by immersive hands-on learning experiences in spaces where students can build, tinker, break, and repair.  It builds on previous engagements with Philadelphia’s Center for Art in Wood and The Clay Studio.

The Center is proud to partner with Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum, which has made this project possible through its generous donation of time, space, and expertise.  Additional support comes from Temple University’s Department of History, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Digital Scholarship Center.

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Please direct all inquries to Prof. Seth Bruggeman at scbrug@temple.edu.